𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 || 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐫-𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟳 - 𝗷𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵

a/n - please vote ! 

i get the courage to sit next to nini, picking up a pair of scissors and setting the maltesers to the side. "hey," nini says, looking at me then looking back at the satin she was cutting. "hi," i respond, looking at the scissors. "are you just gonna... sit there and watch me?" she asks, giggling. "um, yeah, if you don't mind. i'm trying to look helpful here," i say, chuckling too. i put the scissors down, picking up the maltesers packet. i offer it to nini, who shakes her head, "no thanks." i nod, taking one for myself and placing it back beside me.

we all walk into my room, and i look around, walking back out, "i'm gonna grab a mattress," i say. gina follows me, and we bring a mattress into my room. "we'll go three on a bed," i say, gina and i letting the mattress fall onto the bed, "i also have heaps of spare toothbrushes and everything you guys need in my bathroom." 

after we all get ready for bed, we look at the two beds. "who's sleeping where?" ashlyn asks. "not sure, sort yourselves out, i guess," i shrug, sitting on the edge of the bed.

eventually, they sort themselves out- seb, ashlyn and kourtney sleeping on the mattress, and nini and gina sleeping on the bed with me. i lay on the right, and gina and nini walk over. "i'm not sleeping in the middle of you too," gina laughs. nini chuckles, climbing into the bed first. she pulls the blanket up, moving under it. she lays next to me, and. i take out my phone as gina lays down too. seb comes out of the bathroom, "should i turn the lights off?" "yeah, why not," ashlyn says. he turns the light off, and ashlyn and kourtney turn their flash on so seb can guide back into the bed.

i see a silhouette of someone sit up from the bottom of the end of my bed. i sit up too. i squint my eyes as someone's phone flashlight goes on. "isn't this cute?" kourtney laughs, waving her phone at nini, then me. everyone laughs besides me and nini. i let out an awkward chuckle, looking at nini.

"wait... so in the broadway show, all they did was suspend the beast in the air, and then he takes the mask off," gina says, all of us surrounding the blueprint on stage. "but... combine this with the wire from get'cha head in the game, we're golden," ashlyn says. 

i lay on the floor, laying my head on ashlyn's leg. "i... i... i.." i choke out, reaching my arm up. "please, i love you!" ashlyn acts. i pretend to choke for a solid 3 minutes, rolling over and falling onto the floor with my stomach down. "now," ashlyn whispers. 

the harness start to pull me up. "y'all, this is some broadway stuff!" kourtney exclaims. i start getting higher and higher, and i hear the rope snapping. "uh oh," i say. the last stand breaks, and i fall to the floor with a scream. "you guys jinxed it," i groan.

i follow ashlyn's hand movements backstage as everyone gets ready. "little note for good luck," nini says, handing an opening night card to ashlyn. "i'll take what i can get," ashlyn responds, taking it. "you guys feeling alright?" nini asks, looking at me. "fit as a fiddle," i nod. "operating at full capacity!" ashlyn exclaims. i look at the cast on my hand, looking back up with a nervous sigh.

ashlyn gets pulled away by natalie, and i stand up from the chair. "hey, and for the record, i have a good luck note for you," nini says, "i just gotta sign it." "oh! yep, same!" i show nini the card i took out of my pocket with a smile. "honestly, it wasn't easy summing up our entire emotions journey up to this point, but i think i finally got it right," nini says. "yeah, i'm pretty sure i nailed it," i lie, knowing damn well there was nothing written down.

i walk down the hallways, "and when we touched, she didn't shudder at my paw," i sing softly. "peek-a-boo!" i turn around. "lily," i say. "hi," she responds. "did we forget to build a moat around the school? or..." "i just came by to support my favorite actress at east high," she chuckles. i turn around, looking to see if she was talking about anyone else, "oh." "yep, i mean you, y/n. i hope that's okay," she says. "i don't make the guest list, but your show last night was kinda amazing. i mean, everyone was talking about the wolves and the very talented humans." "honestly, your advice really helped me turn things around with my cast. being nice, what a concept," we both chuckle, "maybe we could talk more sometime... over a slice of pizza, an advice slice, lol." "yeah, i don't know how that would go over, um, around here," i say. "loyal to the last," she says. i look behind her, seeing dad and miss jenn. "then again, i'm learning that loyalty can be complicated." lily turns around, "you know, y/n, when my dad got remarried, i couldn't look at the new wife for a month. now she is literally the only sane member of my family." "and that's including you?" we chuckle again. "prince adam, five minutes. lily, scram," natalie says, walking past me. "sorry, i should uh..." "get'cha head in the game?" she assumes. i nod, walking away.

"don't you think it's weird that the beast only has until he's 21 to find true love?" i ask, leaning on a box backstage, "first of all, in the movie he looks at least 30." "well, you know what they say, 'beast don't crease'," ricky says, "plus, i hear the fur adds like 10 years." "literally feels like i've aged 10 years since the day i got this part." "yeah, but that day was the best. i'll never forget the look on ashlyn's face when she got the lead over that mean girl with the eyes." "her name's lily, and, um... i'm not sure she's as mean as we thought." "i don't know, man. ash has some pretty strong feelings about her." "yeah... thanks for coming and supporting us, ricky." "of course, wouldn't miss it for the world," he chuckles.

everyone starts rushing around, trying to look for my harness. "what's wrong?" miss jenn asks, running into the room. "my harness is missing!" "what else can i use?" i ask. "oh, for heaven's sake, can't you just jump off something high?!" miss jenn yells, causing the whole room to go quiet.

i stare at her, swallowing. "nope, forget i said that," she says, "i will be... not here." she runs away. "i knew something would go wrong!" i say. "hey, hey, you guys!" nini yells, "all of you! stop it! y/n, let's just spin you around without the harness, and you can toss the mask into the wings. okay? just like rehearsal." "right! which i never got right once. and now i'm supposed to do it with one hand?" nini sighs, dropping her arms in defeat. "i'm sorry. second acts haven't traditionally been my strong suit." "first time for everything, right?" 

i finish signing nini's card, nodding. "hey! there you are," nini says. i look in the mirror in front of me, seeing her waiting at the door frame. "oh, i was just gonna text you," i say, standing up from the chair as we meet in the middle of the room, "gotta catch up with big red before he heads to slices." "oh, well, i just wanted to give you this, finally signed my name," she hands out her card. we exchange cards.

i look at the card. "should we just read them now?" nini suggests. "why not?" we both chuckle, opening it at the same time. i clear my throat, "um, dear y/n." "dear nini," nini reads. "oh, come on," i say. "did we seriously write the same thing?" i chuckle, "i know it's been quite a journey," i read. "you said 'long semester'." "but, i'm so glad to be where we are." "but i wouldn't trade it for anything. here's to second acts," nini says. "and new beginnings. love, nini." we both put the cards down. "it's pretty crazy," nini chuckles. "i guess we're literally on the same page." "just for a moment," she smiles. i smile back, and she turns around, starting to walk out.